Delta school district postpones safe room

The Delta School District has tabled plans to build a safe room/multipurpose room until it finds out whether it can get additional funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Superintendent Nate Crowden said the district received six bids for its facility. All of them came in over budget.

The district applied for $641,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about two years ago, Crowden has said. FEMA was to provide 75 percent of the cost of the room and the school district 25 percent. The lowest bid was $808,000, Crowden said.

Because the FEMA process took so long, Crowden said, building costs went up. "It's just wait. It's all we can do -- see what happens," Crowden said Tuesday.

Architect Brett Dille of Dille & Traxel Architects said in October the estimated cost of the room, which would be on the west side of the high school gym, is $632,000.

The 4,000-square-foot room would withstand winds from an EF5 tornado and hold about 350 people. It would have precast concrete walls and roof panels, Dille has said, and a generator.

Scott City's plans

The Scott City School District found itself in a similar situation when bids for its performing arts theater/safe room came in over budget. The district received eight bids, and Zoellner Construction of Perryville, Mo., was the lowest at $2,069,000.

The theater and safe room were set to be financed 75 percent by federal funds, or $1.125 million; and 25 percent, or $375,000, by the school district. To help pay for a sound system, curtains and lighting, superintendent Diann Ulmer has said, the district set aside about $550,000.

Jackson's safe room

Meanwhile, Jackson's plans for a safe room/multipurpose room in a community center are progressing.

Mayor Barbara Lohr said the city applied for a $1.8 million FEMA grant to pay for the center's multipurpose room, built to withstand an EF5 tornado. The money will be matched by the not-for-profit Jackson Community Betterment Corp., formerly known as the Southeast Missouri Medical Center, which is donating $3 million for the project.

The Cape Girardeau County Historical Society is contributing $200,000.

The multipurpose room would hold up to 2,000 people during a storm and house emergency operations if a disaster struck, according to a previous Southeast Missourian article.

Last year, Jackson voters passed a quarter-cent sales tax that would fund the center's operations when it is completed. The revenue also will go toward maintenance and improvements in city parks.

Plans are to build the center on East Deerwood Drive near Whitey Herzog Stadium. Construction is expected to take about two years, and the project is designed by Incite Design Studio of Overland Park, Kan.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address: 324 N. Liberty St., Delta, Mo.